A dual celebration on Friday, Oct. 13, feted the Navy’s 231st birthday as well as the Rotary Club and Oak Harbor Area Council Navy League naming of the Marine of the Year and Sea and Shore Sailors of the Year at a luncheon in the Officers’ Club in their honor.

Marine Corps Sgt. James D. Palmer of Marine Aviation Training Support Group 53 was named Marine of the Year.

Petty Officer 1st Class Robin L. Rydell of Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron Two and Petty Officer 1st Class James A. Bates of Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Detachment Whidbey Island were chosen Sea and Shore recipients, respectively.

Rotary’s choice of Marine of the Year recalls his grandfather Charles McClung of Palatka, Fla., urging him to, “Do it right. Do it as a Marine,” when he contemplated military service. Palmer has been serving for six years and says it’s everything he thought it would be and more.

Palmer works as an instructor in the radar communications course at the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Unit.

He also serves in the community by helping a local youngster with his math homework almost every evening and is taking the gray belt course in the U.S. Marine Corps martial arts program.

Palmer thanked his fiance Lisa Wing of Stanwood for having faith in him and supporting his work. “Any success I’ve had, she has been a part of,” he said. They plan to marry in April.

Sea Sailor Robin “Rob” Rydell feels good about being chosen by Navy League, an organization he admires for its community presence in the Veterans Day parade, welcome home events and sponsorship of NROTC units in Oak Harbor and Burlington.

Rydell says that although he has always chiseled his own way over 15 years in the Navy, anything extra, such as this award, can help.

His command played a little joke on Rydell that caught him completely off guard. “My master chief came into the shop and said, ‘Follow me.’ I thought one of my people might be in trouble, or perhaps I was. He was silent on the way, which was odd, but when we reached the CO’s office, they broke the news I had been chosen Sea Sailor of the Year.”

Rydell and his wife Muriel love living here with their children Cassidy, 9, and Dylan, 6.

Shore Sailor James “Tony” Bates works on aircraft armament equipment in AIMD’s 700 Division. His maternal grandfather was in the Navy for 32 years, and his dad served eight years in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Bates had already made up his mind to stay in, and his award serves to reaffirm that commitment.

His co-workers applauded when Cmdr. Katherine Erb broke the news in Production Control, and his wife Paige and daughter Jordan keep the adulation coming at home.

“My other daughter Jessica, 19, is at the Navy’s linguist school in Monterey, Calif., studying Farsi, the Persian language. She is a cryptologist,” said Bates with obvious pride.

Navy League member Richard Bennett said, “The Navy League of Oak Harbor and our co-sponsors, the Rotary Club, have carried on this tradition for 33 years. It is just a small way to recognize the daily sacrifices that our Sailors and Marines make to ensure our security and freedom.”